Pinterest can help you gain readers!
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a SEARCH ENGINE mixed with social media.
It means that, like GOOGLE, it is meant for people to go there SEARCH for topics.
Unlike social media, which the objective is to connect with other people, the main goal of Pinterest is to INFORM people.
You go there to browse for things to INSPIRE YOU.
It’s also made by IMAGES, that are called PINS.
For example, you want inspiration for doing a home renovation. You type in the search bar “home decor” and a lot of different inspiring images will come up.
Coming to books: you want to learn how to write a good character. You type in: “write character”. A lot of informative images will appear.
Each image takes you to a WEBSITE. The images are LINKED to the website URL. Then, when you see an eye-catching image and you want to learn more, you can click on it and it will take you to the website, so you can get informed about it.
You can also SAVE your information.
When you’re googling things, there is no easy way to save what you find.
However, on Pinterest, if you see an interesting image you like, you save it to a “folder”, that will show up on your profile.
You can have all kinds of different folders.
For example, you want to save pins about character creation, worldbuilding, and book reviews. Then, you create three different folders. Character Creation, Worldbuilding, Book Review, and you save the images you want on each, so you can always get your information in a neat and organized way.
These folders are called “boards”.
Pinterest has followers. You can follow people you like, so their boards and pins will show up on your feed as well as relevant pins that Pinterest chooses for you. However, this is NOT the focus. Pinterest itself has said this over and over on their blogs. The focus is INFORMATION, and not social integration.
Summarizing:
Images are called PINS
Folders of alike images are called BOARDS
Each pin take to a different website.
Your objective when you want to drive traffic is creating beautiful, amazing pins and make people click on them, so they go to your website.
It REALLY works! Use Pinterest to attract readers to your books.
But you have to have a STRATEGY.
My Strategy to use Pinterest to attract readers:
I will tell you now MY strategy and HOW I learned EVERYTHING I know of Pinterest. Literally, before this, I went on Pinterest to see crochet pictures and that was it. Now, THE MAJORITY of my traffic comes from there and it’s ONLY GROWING. I’m NEW to Pinterest (2 months).
If it wasn’t for it, I’d probably have given up this blogging thing, because I attract few people from other social media despite my efforts.
Instagram and Facebook are only good if you want to pay them A LOT of money, which I don’t.
1. I create AT LEAST 5 pins per post. And my goal is to increase that A LOT.
You have to have a lot of pins for your posts because you never know which one will get attention. This is something I learned. You might create a pin that you think looks GREAT but then NOBODY likes it, however, you can also create an awful pin in 2 minutes just for it to be there and then it explodes with a lot of impressions and people saving it, visiting your website for it. Who knows?
Each pin is a new chance.
Also, Pinterest LOVES content.
2. I aim to post a lot of new articles per week. Usually 2 or 3 per week, however, I’m looking to increase it to 5 per week in May.
Pinterest doesn’t like when you only pin for old content. When you pin everyday new fresh pins from fresh content, it knows and it promotes you better. So,you have to post OFTEN.
If you don’t have an author’s website yet (which I highly recommend), you can post your book links, no problem. However, you WILL have BETTER results if you have an author’s blog posting new, relevant content. This is OVERALL. Google LOVES it too, it makes you an “authority”.
Remember, more traffic = more people knowing you and your work = more readers.
3. I use Tailwind
Tailwind is an automation tool. It is the only one official and approved by Pinterest, so you can use it without fearing it to be forbidden or something like this.
It does a lot of things, but, mainly, it posts different pins to different boards of mine.
I have 20 different boards. And, right now, I have 163 different pins. I schedule each of these pins to be posted in each of the boards through Tailwind.
So, it is continuously posting my pins to my boards, even without me logging on Pinterest.
IMAGINE doing this by yourself.
I really think that it wouldn’t only take HOURS but it would be impossible because you would lose track.
And Pinterest does not like (some go as far as to say that they don’t ALLOW you) when you post the same pin to the same board twice. So you can’t risk losing track of it. Pinterest is a MASTER of banning people for spam. They consider this a spammy activity.
4. I pin DIRECTLY to Pinterest at least 5 brand new pins per day.
I go to Pinterest itself and click on “create Pin”. I use hashtags and keywords in the name and description. I link it with a URL to my website. Then, I save them all to my Isadora Felix Author’s Blog board, which is only for my original pins.
5. Tailwind Tribes and Group Boards
Tailwind has a feature that is called “Tribes”. It is like a group of people that also use Tailwind and Pinterest. You can send your pin there and people will pin it to their boards, so you’ll be featured on their profiles as well. This means that you’re spreading your pin around. You have to pin them back in return.
This is VERY useful.
Group boards are boards with more people in them. Instead of being only one person (like your personal board), it will appear in every member’s profile and they all can pin to it and pin from it. It’s like Tribes but without mediation (which makes it worse because people can not follow the rules and never pin your pins or, even worse, you can never get accepted into one, because you have to ask the board creator personally to join).
I don’t use group boards yet, but I will!
And Tribes really helped me! I even bought the Tailwind upgrade to be able to join more Tribes!
6. During the day, I pin other people pins to my boards (not my Isadora Felix’ board, that is only for the pins created by me).
When I’m using the bathroom, stuck on traffic, scrolling after lunch I pin some people’s pins through my boards, manually.
Pinterest likes when you, yourself, not only Tailwind, is really using Pinterest like a normal user.
That’s basically it! This is how you get Pinterest to attract readers.
170k monthly views, almost 7k engaged with my content.
Here are some of my pins. Look at those numbers, especially the Neil Gaiman one. 8.5k people saw it. 35 pinned it to their boards. 67 clicked on it to go to my website!
Also, notice that some don’t get as much attention! It all depends! Also, the right technique, the pin age (it’s better when it’s older).
Now, there is MUCH MORE involved in using Pinterest to attract readers
I told you what I am doing daily.
However, if you really want to understand:
How to create great pins;
What causes virality;
HIDDEN secrets that I’m applying to my pins to obtain this kind of success;
Boards strategy;
Pinterest demographic: why is it so good?
And MORE;
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links. Now I’m passionate about sharing the products I love with my audience, that’s why I decided to go for their affiliate program. If you buy through this link, you help me keep making these articles for you without ANY extra cost for you. Thank you!
I am an affiliate to this course because I believe deeply that this is THE secret of getting traffic.
EVERYTHING I learned of Pinterest comes from THIS COURSE HERE.
It is called Pinterest Traffic Avalanche and I’m recommending it to you because without it, I’d probably have given up blogging.
It is SO HARD to get traffic.
If it wasn’t for Pinterest, I would be SO FRUSTRATED.
You saw my numbers. It’s not a lot, but it’s MUCH better than some new bloggers out there, that get ZERO traffic.
It is SO HARD to get traffic from somewhere else.
I paid for Facebook and Instagram ads and it only got me FOUR clicks.
I get this, like, per hour for free on Pinterest.
And I WORK rating ads. I know how to create good ones.
The truth is, Pinterest is really incomparable. And without this course, I wouldn’t have known how to do it.
